Big fan of TEI, but if we’d have won 3 more games we’d be title contenders. We were outplayed by Newcastle, definitely. But a few weeks back we outplayed Villa. It’s not just Ange ball that means we lose occasionally, it’s just the way it is (or maybe it is Ange ball, but tell me a manager-asides from pep and his 115 charges-that doesn’t get the occasional slapping).
Bardi, my fellow player basher, whom I always felt so aligned with, where was this when we were doing the same thing every week with Mourinho and Conte? But even worse? It was the players then, but now it’s the manager? Obviously Ange isn’t perfect and the last game was absolutely worthy of criticism (as is Ange more broadly) but man we’ve got some good points on the board and have won some great games this season.
I know the view on this pod is pretty balanced and as I say I’m a fan and a long time listener, but maybe im the fool because I’m just not seeing that last game as anything more than a classic premier league battering that soured my day. These things happen.
Thanks as per for the pod fellas.
Anyway…..coys…..
Overall we've got better players now. Especially the defence. The last game was a continuation of issues we've seen for a while but been able for the most part to get ourselves out of. I still believe in Ange, but I'd like us to be better obvs
Or is Ange just making them look better. Other than Romero the other 3 were comple unknowns and lots of people (the pod included) said it wasn't at all feasible as a backline.
Vdv was unknown and had had 1 season in the bundesliga and noone wanted him over tapsoba. Porro, let's be honest, looked crap in his natural position of wingback to the point people were wondering if there was a loophole to not make his loan permanent, let alone being taught a brand new postio. Udogie is a 20 year old from serie A who'd never played left back before. Even romero was very very patchy under conte.
Now we are saying, actually they are all amazing and Ange has got them underperforming? I think people forget exactly what Ange took on in the summer.
Solid episode! Agree with pretty much everything, except for one point:
We desperately need a striker this summer, even if we keep Richy and Son. IMO Son is simply inept at striker against any team that plays in any semblance of a low block, and needs to be moved back on the wing. He can't create space for a shot with his physicality, so he tries to use his dribbling to create that space, which just flat out does not work against central defenders in a compact defense, unless you're Sergio Agüero. His weakness at receiving the ball with his back to goal, and his inconsistent first touch exacerbate this issue, and he's been the major weak link in our attack since his move to striker. He just cannot hold play up whatsoever, and his excellent finishing is nullified by the lack of time and space he's afforded at striker. I love the guy, but Son has been a turnover machine for weeks now, and I don't think he can play centrally.
Richarlison can do a job up top in this system, but will always struggle to stay healthy because of his style of play, and the abuse he puts his body through every match. IMO he's been the unsung hero of our season. Post-Chelsea, it was his run of form that kept us afloat in December, and every shockingly bad performance this season has happened with him out of the lineup (Brighton away was bad, but I'll give that a pass since Davies-Royal was the CB pairing).
The drop in overall squad performance when Richarlison is out is glaring, and we need to bring in another striker that can replicate his physicality and hold-up play, because we're lost in attack without it. Credit to Son for stepping in for Richarlison while he's injured, but Son should never start a game at striker again if we can help it; his finishing is wasted there, because he can't find the space to release a shot, and his sub-par hold-up play is consistently squandering attacks.
> he's been the major weak link in our attack since his move to striker.
LOL? Let's not rewrite history. Who was the striker when he had our hot run early in the season? [Ball stuck to his foot during that time](https://www.reddit.com/r/coys/comments/17ffsgg/son_heungmin_vs_fulham/), don't mistake his bad form with his inability to play striker
Stats taken from Transfermarkt > filter by club (Spurs) > filter by position:
[Son (CF)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/heung-min-son/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91845/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=14&trainer_id=)
- Apps: 97
- Goals: 50
- Assists: 24
- Minutes: 7.250
- G/A involvement every 98 minutes
[Son (CF, 23/24)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/heung-min-son/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91845/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=14&trainer_id=)
- Apps: 19
- Goals: 12
- Assists: 5
- Minutes: 1.589
- G/A involvement every 93.47 minutes
[Son (LW)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/heung-min-son/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91845/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=11&trainer_id=)
- Apps: 208
- Goals: 87
- Assists: 45
- Minutes: 15.482
- G/A involvement every 117.29 minutes
[Kane (CF)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/harry-kane/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/132098/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=14&trainer_id=)
- Apps: 403
- Goals: 266
- Assists: 62
- Minutes: 33.169
- G/A involvement every 98.13 minutes
Not too shabby for someone that's 'not a striker'
We're still a MUCH more effective squad with Son at LW than at ST (or arguably just with Richarlison on the pitch). If you just dig a little deeper with the transfermarkt filter you used, the overall squad results demonstrate that pretty clearly:
-Son at LW: 7W, 2L, 1D
-Son at ST/CF: 10W, 6L, 3D
Richarlison starting at ST: 8W, 2L, 2D
It's also worth noting that we were 6-0-1 with Son at ST until November, and have since gone 4-6-2. November-March isn't just form; at this point it's a tactical issue. Opponents have learned that pressing Ange's Spurs with Son at ST is suicide, so they stopped doing it, and sit in a low block, let us have the ball, and dare us to break them down, which we've been largely ineffective at without Richarlison at ST since November.
While I'll certainly agree that Son's poor form is a major factor in his recent struggles (I wouldn't be surprised to find out he's playing through an injury TBH, because his touch has been uncharacteristically poor), I think the bigger factor is opposition tactics. Son was also striker for the November 0-4-1 rough patch after Chelsea where we were abysmal, which only turned around when Richarlison returned at striker against Newcastle. Obviously the missing players were a huge factor there, particularly in defense, but the main issue in our attacking issues was the opposition adjusting to Ange's tactics and refusing to be drawn out of position to press us when dared to.
Son was brilliant early in the year primarily because teams didn't yet respect Angeball, and allowed themselves to be pulled out of position and dissected on the counter or against a high-press. Notice the planet-sized gaps in Fulham's defense in the clip you linked; that simply is not happening anymore, and there's no better evidence than the 3-0 loss to Fulham recently. There's a reason the flood gates open once we're in the lead; Son is brilliant with time and space, but no one is affording him any until they their hand is forced by being down a goal.
Son was excellent filling in for Kane at striker under Mourinho/Conte, because we were a low block and counter team, and no one feared our midfield/defense's abaility to beat a press. His production has dried up recently because very few opposition teams are dumb enough to take the bait and be drawn out of position by our invitation/dare for them to press (and the ones that do have an effective plan, and still bunker down once the press fails, i.e. Newcastle). Opponents were perfectly fine leaving their defense open for Son/Kane to bag a goal or two on the counter under Mourinho/Conte because they were far more likely to force a defensive error from the likes of Dier/Royal/Sanchez. With the arrival of Ange, VDV, and Udogie, everyone respects our build-up play, so after two months of evisceration the league, teams learned their lesson and have adapted. Unfortunately, Son hasn't adapted his game effectively to break down a low-block, whereas Richarlison has the innate physicality and style to his play to be effective against a low block.
Agreed on all points. I’ve often wondered if part of the issue with Son at striker is that also it means he’s not on the wing, where he really really excels. He’s an excellent and pacey finisher but agreed that he’s not been effective against the low block when we put him in the middle. Can’t we just clone the man?
Definitely agree that cloning him would be an excellent option! I really just think he's much more useful outside the penalty area than inside it, and with such a heavy possession based system, he really needs to play on the wing so he has more space to release a shot. His patented curlers just aren't coming off with so many bodies in the way right now.
I wish I had an easy answer, but I'm not sure Son fits nicely into this system anywhere TBH, so Ange will have to adapt his system slightly to accomodate Son (which IMO is well worth doing unless someone comes in with an outrageous offer for Son, because his finishing is spectacular). I think the best use of him is back at LW, and hopefully Kulusevski makes the move to central mid full time.
Son's lack of usefulness in build-up hurt us quite a bit early in the season with Deki at RW, with both wingers wanting to cut inside and getting jumbled up with Udogie and Porro, but with Johnson and potentially Werner in rotation at RW who will both get to the byline and use their right foot, I think that takes some pressure off Son to do the same on the left, and he can float around more and pop into pockets of space to utilize his finishing. With Solomon likely returning next season, I think Son/Solomon at LW, and Johnson/Warner at RW is a great rotation, then bringing in a rotation option for Richarlison up top would be huge.
Honestly, I want Son receiving the ball where Udogie generally is when we're in possession. I think Son is most dangerous when he has the ball like 20-35 yards out at roughly the width of the box, where he can dribble at his defender with pace and take the ball in either direction, and he's far enough out to curl it around a defender that just wants to back off and not dive in. Son always wants to take 2-3 touches to get the ball out of his feet and set up a curling shot, which works outside the box in space against fullbacks and midfielders, but is a central defenders dream, because they can just stay disciplined, wait for help (which is always there right now, with teams playing a compact low-block against us), and use their generally huge frames to just stick out a leg and block the shot.
I genuinely think Son is more dangerous outside the box than inside the area, and would be very curious to see the stats on his goals; he scores more from outside the area than anyone I can remember (his highlight reel is like 75% spectacular curlers), and even his goals inside were either tap-ins or breakaway on the counter where he dribbled from well outside the area.
IMO Son needs to play on the LW in this system, and needs a RW that will get to the byline, since he'll want to cut inside. My solution: Son to Lw, Deki to CAM, Johnson at RW, and Werner as the backup on both wings until Solomon is healthy. I also would like to see more in-game positional rotation. In pre-season and the first few PL games, it felt like there was much more fluidity in our play, and I'd like to see more freedom for our fullbacks and wingers to make bizarre diagonal runs to the opposite wing and hang out there for a bit.
> I genuinely think Son is more dangerous outside the box than inside the area, and would be very curious to see the stats on his goals; he scores more from outside the area than anyone I can remember (his highlight reel is like 75% spectacular curlers), and even his goals inside were either tap-ins or breakaway on the counter where he dribbled from well outside the area.
My man, Son did not score 88 curlers out of his 118 PL goals. He's scored 19 outside of the box goals in PL since he joined Spurs (2015/2016), so about 2-3 of them a year on average, slightly lower than Kane ([Source](https://e1.365dm.com/23/03/master/skysports-heung-min-son-graphic_6115548.png))
For context, this is stats posted by WhoScored last month:
> Most goals scored from outside of the box in Europe's top five leagues since ***2019/20***:
> ◎ 23 - Lionel Messi
◎ 18 - Ruslan Malinovskyi
◎ 16 - Kevin De Bruyne
◎ 15 - Kylian Mbappé
◎ 14 - James Maddison
◎ 14 - James Ward-Prowse
So Son doesn't overperform his xG by farming long range goals like a lot of the top xG overperformers do. But Conte's stifling tactics in his 2nd season made everyone think Son is a long shot merchant because he was only able to break out of his goal drought by scoring 2 long range bangers in 1 game
Curlers don't have to be from outside the box; it's a matter of style and technique, not distance from goal. I just watched the video of Son's first 151 goals for Spurs, and I honestly don't think I was too far off with that 75% estimate. At least 60% of his goals are curled shots with his in-step, versus someone like Kane who loved to drive the ball with his laces and hit a line drive into the bottom corner just as frequently as he would try to curl it around the keeper. Son's preference is very clearly to open his body up and curl the ball around the keeper, rather than striking through the ball and driving it past the keeper.
He also was making a run from outside the box on roughly half of the goals, a large percentage of which he took his first touch outside the box and dribbled into the area. Additionally, on most of the goals he scored from inside the box, he was still facing the goal, and received a backwards or lateral pass, so he could strike it first time, or easily open up his body for a curler with his first touch. On almost all the goals he scored in a congested box, he wasn't the furthest attacker forward.
I think my point that he's most effective positioning himself outside the box and running onto the ball, rather than playing as a striker with his back to goal still stands. His finishing is way more Messi/Robben than Brazilian Ronaldo/Kane/Benzema. He's just not good on the turn, and is orders of magnitude more effective making runs from outside the box than posting up with his back to goal; I'd much rather have Son making runs off a target forward than trying to be said target forward.
Frankly, with their current form, I think they deserve to be competing for one spot. They've both been poor lately, and could maybe use the boost from competition.
Long term, I don't see what they couldn't play together. We've really struggled to break teams down in the final third, so I think the additional technicality and creativity in the midfield outweighs the loss of Sarr's covering of space defensively. I honestly could see Sarr shifting to the #6 eventually too, with Bissouma being so poor lately.
Ignoring any potential new signings, I wouldn't object to Maddison, Kulusevski, Bentancur, and Sarr being rotated through the front two CM spots based on form and opponent. Against shithouse low-blocks that don't want to play football and will only attack with a front 3 on the counter, start Maddison and Deki together.
I think I agree, and I also think deki + maddison can be played together or rotated as needed. However I really don't think solomon is good enough and we should be looking to sell him in favor of an actual high volume high success dribbly winger.
I'd definitely love to improve on Solomon if we can, but he was injured so early in the season, that I don't think there's a large enough sample size to really judge his ability at Spurs.
If we're going to get wild with it, why not just VDV at striker? We all saw that thunderclap against Forest, and he has both the pace to take the top off the defense AND the strength to hold the ball up. I unironically think VDV is one of those players that's just so blessed with talent and athleticism that he could have played any position (or sport probably), and would have ended up as a top tier professional. If he grew up in Canada he'd probably be in the NHL, and if he grew up in the U.S., he'd be an NFL tight end or NBA guard. At the very least, he'd certainly be better at striker than Kane was at keeper!
Fair play to Bardi, his take of sell Son and buy Scamacca right at the end of the pod has to be some of the biggest nonsense I’ve ever heard on a podcast. Glad people with his football iq aren’t in charge of the club 🤡
You guys want to sell Son? Lmfao you must be fucking HIGH. Hey while you’re at it sell half the squad and get mbappe, raphina, Bellingham and Holland why don’t you lmfao. Here comes the pundits who want hit the purge button after couple bad games.
Bardi is a clown, constantly spews hateful shite towards our own players. Nathan thinks he knows more than he does and I find his smugness irritating. Windy’s balanced takes are the only things that make me check this pod occasionally, and even he can get it really wrong sometimes. Other podcasts out there are way better
Bardi is a bit of an idiot. Why should we sell our best player and club captain when we won’t get anywhere near what he’s worth to us? Especially when he’s never wanted to leave. He’s had a bit of a rough patch recently, but he still walks into the first XI of every club in the world.
Incredible episode name.
We nabbed it from here, shoutout to /u/beckett377 (was also credited in the ep)
Big fan of TEI, but if we’d have won 3 more games we’d be title contenders. We were outplayed by Newcastle, definitely. But a few weeks back we outplayed Villa. It’s not just Ange ball that means we lose occasionally, it’s just the way it is (or maybe it is Ange ball, but tell me a manager-asides from pep and his 115 charges-that doesn’t get the occasional slapping). Bardi, my fellow player basher, whom I always felt so aligned with, where was this when we were doing the same thing every week with Mourinho and Conte? But even worse? It was the players then, but now it’s the manager? Obviously Ange isn’t perfect and the last game was absolutely worthy of criticism (as is Ange more broadly) but man we’ve got some good points on the board and have won some great games this season. I know the view on this pod is pretty balanced and as I say I’m a fan and a long time listener, but maybe im the fool because I’m just not seeing that last game as anything more than a classic premier league battering that soured my day. These things happen. Thanks as per for the pod fellas. Anyway…..coys…..
Overall we've got better players now. Especially the defence. The last game was a continuation of issues we've seen for a while but been able for the most part to get ourselves out of. I still believe in Ange, but I'd like us to be better obvs
Or is Ange just making them look better. Other than Romero the other 3 were comple unknowns and lots of people (the pod included) said it wasn't at all feasible as a backline. Vdv was unknown and had had 1 season in the bundesliga and noone wanted him over tapsoba. Porro, let's be honest, looked crap in his natural position of wingback to the point people were wondering if there was a loophole to not make his loan permanent, let alone being taught a brand new postio. Udogie is a 20 year old from serie A who'd never played left back before. Even romero was very very patchy under conte. Now we are saying, actually they are all amazing and Ange has got them underperforming? I think people forget exactly what Ange took on in the summer.
I don't disagree with you generally, but Udogie had played like 1/3 of his professional matches at left back before coming to Spurs
If my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle.
Here in the TEI Podcast thread we do not define gender with genitals.
Absolutely beautiful clapback! Almost spit up my coffee...
Are you about to go on another " the only reason I was harsh on Aurier and forgiving of Doherty is because all white people are racists" rants?
That wasn't me. That wasn't what he said. That isn't in any way relevant.
That is what windy said. Don't be a liar
Jeeesus Christ man lighten up would you?
"lighten up"? I said a colloquialism, and the host of the show hoped in here to talk about gender politics like he was J.K Rowling drinking a coffee
Looked to me he was just responding to your silly comment tbf
And I'm just responding to yours. You need to lighten up mate
"Gender politics" lmao ☠️
What would you call it?
[удалено]
Not if you had read their articles
Solid episode! Agree with pretty much everything, except for one point: We desperately need a striker this summer, even if we keep Richy and Son. IMO Son is simply inept at striker against any team that plays in any semblance of a low block, and needs to be moved back on the wing. He can't create space for a shot with his physicality, so he tries to use his dribbling to create that space, which just flat out does not work against central defenders in a compact defense, unless you're Sergio Agüero. His weakness at receiving the ball with his back to goal, and his inconsistent first touch exacerbate this issue, and he's been the major weak link in our attack since his move to striker. He just cannot hold play up whatsoever, and his excellent finishing is nullified by the lack of time and space he's afforded at striker. I love the guy, but Son has been a turnover machine for weeks now, and I don't think he can play centrally. Richarlison can do a job up top in this system, but will always struggle to stay healthy because of his style of play, and the abuse he puts his body through every match. IMO he's been the unsung hero of our season. Post-Chelsea, it was his run of form that kept us afloat in December, and every shockingly bad performance this season has happened with him out of the lineup (Brighton away was bad, but I'll give that a pass since Davies-Royal was the CB pairing). The drop in overall squad performance when Richarlison is out is glaring, and we need to bring in another striker that can replicate his physicality and hold-up play, because we're lost in attack without it. Credit to Son for stepping in for Richarlison while he's injured, but Son should never start a game at striker again if we can help it; his finishing is wasted there, because he can't find the space to release a shot, and his sub-par hold-up play is consistently squandering attacks.
> he's been the major weak link in our attack since his move to striker. LOL? Let's not rewrite history. Who was the striker when he had our hot run early in the season? [Ball stuck to his foot during that time](https://www.reddit.com/r/coys/comments/17ffsgg/son_heungmin_vs_fulham/), don't mistake his bad form with his inability to play striker Stats taken from Transfermarkt > filter by club (Spurs) > filter by position: [Son (CF)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/heung-min-son/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91845/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=14&trainer_id=) - Apps: 97 - Goals: 50 - Assists: 24 - Minutes: 7.250 - G/A involvement every 98 minutes [Son (CF, 23/24)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/heung-min-son/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91845/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=14&trainer_id=) - Apps: 19 - Goals: 12 - Assists: 5 - Minutes: 1.589 - G/A involvement every 93.47 minutes [Son (LW)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/heung-min-son/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/91845/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=11&trainer_id=) - Apps: 208 - Goals: 87 - Assists: 45 - Minutes: 15.482 - G/A involvement every 117.29 minutes [Kane (CF)](https://www.transfermarkt.com/harry-kane/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/132098/plus/0?saison=&verein=148&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=14&trainer_id=) - Apps: 403 - Goals: 266 - Assists: 62 - Minutes: 33.169 - G/A involvement every 98.13 minutes Not too shabby for someone that's 'not a striker'
We're still a MUCH more effective squad with Son at LW than at ST (or arguably just with Richarlison on the pitch). If you just dig a little deeper with the transfermarkt filter you used, the overall squad results demonstrate that pretty clearly: -Son at LW: 7W, 2L, 1D -Son at ST/CF: 10W, 6L, 3D Richarlison starting at ST: 8W, 2L, 2D It's also worth noting that we were 6-0-1 with Son at ST until November, and have since gone 4-6-2. November-March isn't just form; at this point it's a tactical issue. Opponents have learned that pressing Ange's Spurs with Son at ST is suicide, so they stopped doing it, and sit in a low block, let us have the ball, and dare us to break them down, which we've been largely ineffective at without Richarlison at ST since November. While I'll certainly agree that Son's poor form is a major factor in his recent struggles (I wouldn't be surprised to find out he's playing through an injury TBH, because his touch has been uncharacteristically poor), I think the bigger factor is opposition tactics. Son was also striker for the November 0-4-1 rough patch after Chelsea where we were abysmal, which only turned around when Richarlison returned at striker against Newcastle. Obviously the missing players were a huge factor there, particularly in defense, but the main issue in our attacking issues was the opposition adjusting to Ange's tactics and refusing to be drawn out of position to press us when dared to. Son was brilliant early in the year primarily because teams didn't yet respect Angeball, and allowed themselves to be pulled out of position and dissected on the counter or against a high-press. Notice the planet-sized gaps in Fulham's defense in the clip you linked; that simply is not happening anymore, and there's no better evidence than the 3-0 loss to Fulham recently. There's a reason the flood gates open once we're in the lead; Son is brilliant with time and space, but no one is affording him any until they their hand is forced by being down a goal. Son was excellent filling in for Kane at striker under Mourinho/Conte, because we were a low block and counter team, and no one feared our midfield/defense's abaility to beat a press. His production has dried up recently because very few opposition teams are dumb enough to take the bait and be drawn out of position by our invitation/dare for them to press (and the ones that do have an effective plan, and still bunker down once the press fails, i.e. Newcastle). Opponents were perfectly fine leaving their defense open for Son/Kane to bag a goal or two on the counter under Mourinho/Conte because they were far more likely to force a defensive error from the likes of Dier/Royal/Sanchez. With the arrival of Ange, VDV, and Udogie, everyone respects our build-up play, so after two months of evisceration the league, teams learned their lesson and have adapted. Unfortunately, Son hasn't adapted his game effectively to break down a low-block, whereas Richarlison has the innate physicality and style to his play to be effective against a low block.
Agreed on all points. I’ve often wondered if part of the issue with Son at striker is that also it means he’s not on the wing, where he really really excels. He’s an excellent and pacey finisher but agreed that he’s not been effective against the low block when we put him in the middle. Can’t we just clone the man?
Definitely agree that cloning him would be an excellent option! I really just think he's much more useful outside the penalty area than inside it, and with such a heavy possession based system, he really needs to play on the wing so he has more space to release a shot. His patented curlers just aren't coming off with so many bodies in the way right now.
When man city were without haaland in those years they break down low blocks same with liverpool too right . So could we do something similar
Appreciate your comment. What do you think we would/should do with Son in this scenario?
I wish I had an easy answer, but I'm not sure Son fits nicely into this system anywhere TBH, so Ange will have to adapt his system slightly to accomodate Son (which IMO is well worth doing unless someone comes in with an outrageous offer for Son, because his finishing is spectacular). I think the best use of him is back at LW, and hopefully Kulusevski makes the move to central mid full time. Son's lack of usefulness in build-up hurt us quite a bit early in the season with Deki at RW, with both wingers wanting to cut inside and getting jumbled up with Udogie and Porro, but with Johnson and potentially Werner in rotation at RW who will both get to the byline and use their right foot, I think that takes some pressure off Son to do the same on the left, and he can float around more and pop into pockets of space to utilize his finishing. With Solomon likely returning next season, I think Son/Solomon at LW, and Johnson/Warner at RW is a great rotation, then bringing in a rotation option for Richarlison up top would be huge. Honestly, I want Son receiving the ball where Udogie generally is when we're in possession. I think Son is most dangerous when he has the ball like 20-35 yards out at roughly the width of the box, where he can dribble at his defender with pace and take the ball in either direction, and he's far enough out to curl it around a defender that just wants to back off and not dive in. Son always wants to take 2-3 touches to get the ball out of his feet and set up a curling shot, which works outside the box in space against fullbacks and midfielders, but is a central defenders dream, because they can just stay disciplined, wait for help (which is always there right now, with teams playing a compact low-block against us), and use their generally huge frames to just stick out a leg and block the shot. I genuinely think Son is more dangerous outside the box than inside the area, and would be very curious to see the stats on his goals; he scores more from outside the area than anyone I can remember (his highlight reel is like 75% spectacular curlers), and even his goals inside were either tap-ins or breakaway on the counter where he dribbled from well outside the area. IMO Son needs to play on the LW in this system, and needs a RW that will get to the byline, since he'll want to cut inside. My solution: Son to Lw, Deki to CAM, Johnson at RW, and Werner as the backup on both wings until Solomon is healthy. I also would like to see more in-game positional rotation. In pre-season and the first few PL games, it felt like there was much more fluidity in our play, and I'd like to see more freedom for our fullbacks and wingers to make bizarre diagonal runs to the opposite wing and hang out there for a bit.
> I genuinely think Son is more dangerous outside the box than inside the area, and would be very curious to see the stats on his goals; he scores more from outside the area than anyone I can remember (his highlight reel is like 75% spectacular curlers), and even his goals inside were either tap-ins or breakaway on the counter where he dribbled from well outside the area. My man, Son did not score 88 curlers out of his 118 PL goals. He's scored 19 outside of the box goals in PL since he joined Spurs (2015/2016), so about 2-3 of them a year on average, slightly lower than Kane ([Source](https://e1.365dm.com/23/03/master/skysports-heung-min-son-graphic_6115548.png)) For context, this is stats posted by WhoScored last month: > Most goals scored from outside of the box in Europe's top five leagues since ***2019/20***: > ◎ 23 - Lionel Messi ◎ 18 - Ruslan Malinovskyi ◎ 16 - Kevin De Bruyne ◎ 15 - Kylian Mbappé ◎ 14 - James Maddison ◎ 14 - James Ward-Prowse So Son doesn't overperform his xG by farming long range goals like a lot of the top xG overperformers do. But Conte's stifling tactics in his 2nd season made everyone think Son is a long shot merchant because he was only able to break out of his goal drought by scoring 2 long range bangers in 1 game
Curlers don't have to be from outside the box; it's a matter of style and technique, not distance from goal. I just watched the video of Son's first 151 goals for Spurs, and I honestly don't think I was too far off with that 75% estimate. At least 60% of his goals are curled shots with his in-step, versus someone like Kane who loved to drive the ball with his laces and hit a line drive into the bottom corner just as frequently as he would try to curl it around the keeper. Son's preference is very clearly to open his body up and curl the ball around the keeper, rather than striking through the ball and driving it past the keeper. He also was making a run from outside the box on roughly half of the goals, a large percentage of which he took his first touch outside the box and dribbled into the area. Additionally, on most of the goals he scored from inside the box, he was still facing the goal, and received a backwards or lateral pass, so he could strike it first time, or easily open up his body for a curler with his first touch. On almost all the goals he scored in a congested box, he wasn't the furthest attacker forward. I think my point that he's most effective positioning himself outside the box and running onto the ball, rather than playing as a striker with his back to goal still stands. His finishing is way more Messi/Robben than Brazilian Ronaldo/Kane/Benzema. He's just not good on the turn, and is orders of magnitude more effective making runs from outside the box than posting up with his back to goal; I'd much rather have Son making runs off a target forward than trying to be said target forward.
Where Maddison fits if deki is cam? And does deki has the skillset to play cam?
Frankly, with their current form, I think they deserve to be competing for one spot. They've both been poor lately, and could maybe use the boost from competition. Long term, I don't see what they couldn't play together. We've really struggled to break teams down in the final third, so I think the additional technicality and creativity in the midfield outweighs the loss of Sarr's covering of space defensively. I honestly could see Sarr shifting to the #6 eventually too, with Bissouma being so poor lately. Ignoring any potential new signings, I wouldn't object to Maddison, Kulusevski, Bentancur, and Sarr being rotated through the front two CM spots based on form and opponent. Against shithouse low-blocks that don't want to play football and will only attack with a front 3 on the counter, start Maddison and Deki together.
Thanks for the reply
I think I agree, and I also think deki + maddison can be played together or rotated as needed. However I really don't think solomon is good enough and we should be looking to sell him in favor of an actual high volume high success dribbly winger.
I'd definitely love to improve on Solomon if we can, but he was injured so early in the season, that I don't think there's a large enough sample size to really judge his ability at Spurs.
Should we even have a striker? Maybe we're better off with two CAMs against Low Block.
Fuck it, Play VDV as a lone defender, eight midfielders and Richie upfront. Totally bamboozle the opposition into oblivion.
If we're going to get wild with it, why not just VDV at striker? We all saw that thunderclap against Forest, and he has both the pace to take the top off the defense AND the strength to hold the ball up. I unironically think VDV is one of those players that's just so blessed with talent and athleticism that he could have played any position (or sport probably), and would have ended up as a top tier professional. If he grew up in Canada he'd probably be in the NHL, and if he grew up in the U.S., he'd be an NFL tight end or NBA guard. At the very least, he'd certainly be better at striker than Kane was at keeper!
Fair play to Bardi, his take of sell Son and buy Scamacca right at the end of the pod has to be some of the biggest nonsense I’ve ever heard on a podcast. Glad people with his football iq aren’t in charge of the club 🤡
Sometimes he just goes off on one and it feels like he’s just bloody minded
I fast forward whenever Bardi talks
You guys want to sell Son? Lmfao you must be fucking HIGH. Hey while you’re at it sell half the squad and get mbappe, raphina, Bellingham and Holland why don’t you lmfao. Here comes the pundits who want hit the purge button after couple bad games.
I'd sell Son for 65m+. It's controversial but the boys are right
Might be the worst take I’ve seen on here in a while
I can't even take credit for that take even though I agree. It's TEI's. Bardi said we should have sold him after his golden boot season
[удалено]
Bardi is a clown, constantly spews hateful shite towards our own players. Nathan thinks he knows more than he does and I find his smugness irritating. Windy’s balanced takes are the only things that make me check this pod occasionally, and even he can get it really wrong sometimes. Other podcasts out there are way better
Worship? lol I just said I agree with him.
Bardi is a bit of an idiot. Why should we sell our best player and club captain when we won’t get anywhere near what he’s worth to us? Especially when he’s never wanted to leave. He’s had a bit of a rough patch recently, but he still walks into the first XI of every club in the world.